‘I’ve got mud everywhere’: Aynor slops way past Green Sea Floyds

The Blue Jackets ground out a mudder against Green Sea Floyds.

On a soft, sloppy, slippery and eventually chewed-up field that was drenched by torrential rain Thursday night, Aynor scored a pair of early touchdowns on the ground and held off the Trojans for a 16-6 win.

“I’ve got mud everywhere. Places it don’t need to be, everywhere,” said Aynor junior running back Noah Seaver, who gained 87 yards on 24 carries and was covered in mud following the game. “We all grew up in Aynor and that’s about what Aynor is, a mud hole. We’ve played in this our whole lives. It’s another game to us.”

Aynor got 1-yard touchdown runs by Seaver and Ethan Martin in the first half, while Trojans quarterback Shaquan “Scrap” Gilliard completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Shaquille Johnson late in the first quarter.

There was no further scoring over the game’s final 2 1/2 quarters. The Blue Jackets gained 162 yards on 42 carries and Green Sea Floyds was held under 100 yards of offense on just 29 plays.

Aynor (2-1) was coming off a 25-21 loss to Andrew Jackson, in which it was stopped at the 3-yard line in the final minute.

“Last week was frustrating. It took a lot out of us. I still haven’t recovered to be honest with you. But it is what it is,” Aynor coach Jody Jenerette said. “We bounced back against a rival football team, and [the Trojans] played great. Hats off to them.”

Green Sea Floyds (1-1) was coming off a bye week after defeating East Columbus 31-0.

“Outside of [Aynor’s early scoring drives] I thought we played pretty well,” said Trojans first-year coach Donnie Kiefer. “We kind of got our feet under us defensively. I think our biggest enemy tonight was ourselves. I think we had at least six maybe seven offside penalties in crucial situations, most in third-and-short situations, and that’s just a discipline thing.”

Turning point

Trailing 16-6 late in the first half, a high snap on an Aynor punt attempt gave the Trojans possession at the Aynor 9. But Aynor’s defense stepped up to keep the Trojans from gaining even a yard on four plays, including a fourth-down pass to the back right corner of the end zone intended for Shaquille Johnson that was covered by two defenders and batted down.

Key performers

Noah Seaver: The junior running back had game-highs with 24 carries and 87 yards and managed to hold onto the football.

Shaquan “Scrap” Gilliard: GSF’s senior quarterback gained 40 yards on six carries and threw a touchdown pass among his eight pass attempts

Aynor’s DL: The Aynor defense, led by the defensive line, held the Trojans to 74 yards on 21 carries.

By the numbers

1

Despite the difficult and wet field conditions, there was just one turnover in the game, an interception by Green Sea Floyds’ Eric Small

18

Total passing yards between the two teams

1:50

Time from start to finish of the game

They said it

“It’s fun but it’s tough. It’s tough to hang on to the ball, tough to stay on your feet. It’s a man’s game when you’re playing in the mud. You’ve got to be physical." - Aynor’s Noah Seaver

“We’re mudders, we’re made for this. But they played well. They hit us in the mouth and we responded okay. On a night like this, on a track like this, man if you win just be happy and get out of there, and that’s what we did.” - Aynor coach Jody Jenerette

“Obviously we had trouble throwing the football. The footing was awful the quarterback to try to do anything, for the receivers to do anything. They didn’t throw the ball hardly any either, it was a mess. I think it was definitely a factor for both teams trying to move the football.” - GSF coach Donnie Kiefer

Up next

Green Sea Floyds: vs. Loris

Aynor: at Creek Bridge

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 10:43 PM with the headline "‘I’ve got mud everywhere’: Aynor slops way past Green Sea Floyds."